Netanyahu Calls Britain ‘Islamic Republic’ Amid Israel Criticism

LONDON: (News Desk)-   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked controversy by referring to Britain as an “Islamic republic” while criticising London’s increasingly critical stance towards Israel.

Netanyahu made the remarks during an interview on an Israeli army radio podcast on Thursday. He referred to Winston Churchill’s grandson and namesake, who had strongly supported Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, before questioning whether similar support could be found in Britain today.

“Someone once said that the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons would be the Islamic republic of Britain,” Netanyahu said, according to the interview, adding that Israel was working to prevent Iran from becoming another such power.

The comments have drawn criticism because the “Islamic republic” framing echoes rhetoric used by far-right politicians and commentators who have made unsupported claims about parts of Britain supposedly coming under Islamic law because of immigration.

Britain was among several European countries that recognised Palestinian statehood last year, a move that angered the Israeli government. Relations have faced further strain over London’s criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and its position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also criticised the previous government’s approach, arguing that former Prime Minister Keir Starmer should have exerted greater pressure on Israel to end its Gaza offensive.

In an interview shortly before taking office, Burnham said Britain could consider restrictions on trade involving goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

London has also distanced itself from aspects of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran. Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel must prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, while Tehran maintains that it does not seek to develop such weapons.

Britain and the United States possess nuclear arsenals, while Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but has never officially acknowledged possessing them.

Pakistan became the first Muslim-majority country to openly demonstrate a nuclear weapons capability in 1998, conducting nuclear tests shortly after India carried out its own tests.